Archive for October, 2016

Well as it turns out, Cullen’s stomach virus got us all. It struck like a domino, Cullen, then me, then Keane, then The Husband. It was violent, painful and exhausting. I went so many rounds with the toilet in the space of 28 hours that by the end of the whole projectile vom ordeal, I wanted to rip it from the ground and take it home with me. We were bonded now. Loo had seen me at my worst yet never left me. Common sense told me that the conversation at check-out might be a bit awkward, so reluctantly I left her, with just our shared memories. Oh, did I mention I was off on a fabulous weekend getaway with a good friend of mine when the virus struck? Well I was. My first weekend without kids, since having kids. What f*#king luck. Illness stole our joy, my appetite, about 2lbs of hydration, my will to live and a good chunk of cash cos of some of the things we missed out on in that 28hours. But danm, when that virus lifted, we hit the activities, the restaurant and the juice bar (was still too soon for the alcohol) hard. We made the absolute best of what was left of the weekend. If we’re Facebook or Instagram friends you saw a 1 minute video of some of the things we got up to. My blog is old and in desperate need of an upgrade, so not able to share said video here. Anyway, we are back in real life now. Back in the driving seat of parenthood. Our weekend of fun (illness didn’t steal out sense of humor) a distant memory.

Currently working through some photos of our Fall Day of Fun earlier this week. So a day or 2 and this photo will be shared in context.

You know winter is approaching when the first person in the house gets sick. Yep, seasonal illness has hit our home and our first victim was the youngest member of the family, Cullen. Tuesday night I put him to bed. Everything was normal. He and his brother were hyper, standard for most kids right before bedtime. Storytime went smoothly, followed by the routine hugs, kisses, tucking in then lights out. However, not 30 minutes later, with barely my first glass of wine drained, Cullen was suddenly awake and projectile vomiting all over himself and the bed. WTF?? And so started a long night with endless rounds of projectile puke, followed by endless changes of pajamas, bed sheets, blankets and pillows. Even a middle of the night shower to wash the smelly chunky bile out of his hair. Obviously all those puke stained pjs, sheets, blankets and pillows couldn’t be allowed to sit until morning, no, the fallout from that would have been an environmental disaster, so began the endless laundry. And all of this between the hours of 8.30pm and 6.00am the following morning. Yep, it was a busy night. Slowly, with every passing day the stomach virus is working its way out of him. But we are all completely wiped out. The goal now is to avoid passing it around to anyone else. Absolutely nobody wants that. Only so much of those puked filled nights this momma can take.

But in the healthier days, prior to illness, when the boys played happily together and worked as a team to build themselves a noodle house.

Keane had the genius idea to add a propeller to the top. And just like that, we had ourselves a helicopter house.

Now of course both of them want to move into the helicopter house, or at the least, enjoy a snack.

Last week our family grew by 1. On a random break in his work day, The Husband found himself foraging in a forest, next to lake, as you do, when he came across a dirt hole with some eggs. One of the eggs became very active and as he watched, a tiny turtle poked out his tiny head, 1 tiny arm and a leg. Instead of leaving him alone, The Husband scoops him up, gives him temporary accommodation in a chicken nugget box and transports him back to our house so the boys can watch a live turtle hatching. Instantly the boys were completely absorbed and invested in Turtler (thats his name) and his plight for egg freedom, and instantly I knew this guy once hatched, was not going to be released back to the wild like I hoped. No, Turtler was now the turtle we never had or ever knew we wanted.

Keane was committed during his hatching process, Turtler was never left alone, not even when we had to take Cullen to his swim class.

While Cullen and his friend Wyatt swam, Turtler and Keane watched.

Then suddenly Turtle’er broke free of his egg.

As soon as we got home, we prepared to move him into larger accommodations.

A bigger tub with some flat rocks so he could choose to be in or out of water. Choices, very important.

Water, also very important if your a turtle.

The move from his baby tub, to his big turtle tub.

And there he is. Happy, I think.

Turtle’er has been with us for 5 days now and honestly the poor guy hasn’t had a seconds peace. Keane is constantly bothering him, but in a very gentle way. I try to skillfully coach him in the direction of leaving him alone, but I appear to have zero skill in that department.

Day 3 and Turtle’er got yet another upgrade in his accommodations. His very own tank. Heated.

And Keane continued to bother him, this time introducing him to some of his favorite dinosaur toys.

Trying to nap in his little turtle bed.

On top of meeting Keane’s dinosaurs, Cullen also wanted to share some of his favorite crane hooks with Turtle’er.